


Trapped Innside

by Alfalfa



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Locked In, Love Confessions, M/M, Sormikweek2016, edna rose and zaveid are mentioned very briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 19:58:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7727863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alfalfa/pseuds/Alfalfa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So they get locked inn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trapped Innside

**Author's Note:**

> no i did not misspell the title and summary

So Sorey and Mikleo were locked in their room.

They had woken up, noticing that the others inside of Sorey didn't greet them in the morning as usual. They thought nothing of it, assuming that the rest of the party had gone downstairs to order breakfast. Getting dressed, Sorey had been the one to walk to the door, placing his hand on the knob and...

It wouldn't turn.

He tried again.

The doorknob rattled in his hand, but it was clear that it wasn't going to open.

"Sorey?" Mikleo called from the other side of the room, halfway through buckling his belt corset.

Sorey tried jimmying the knob again. It wouldn't budge.

"Uh, Mikleo. I think the door's stuck."

"What? Let me see," Mikleo hurriedly crossed over to the door, nudging Sorey out of the way so he could see for himself. Sure enough, it didn't open. "What? What is this? It should only lock from the inside!"

Sorey scratched his head, a confused expression on his face. "It won't open, though. Could it be jammed?"

Mikleo shook his head, "No, the others would have taken care of it on their way out. Unless--" Suddenly, his friend rushed toward the door, slamming his shoulder into it. It knocked into the wood with a hard _thud._

"Wha--" Sorey raised his hands to stop this madness. "Mikleo, please! You're going to hurt yourself!"

"And if I hurt myself, I can heal myself, Sorey." Mikleo said very matter-of-factly. After a few more bangs of his shoulder against the door, they found that he couldn't get it to open, either.

"See?" Sorey said, guiding his friend away as he glared at the structure that had wronged him. "There's another way to go about this, you know."

"Like what?" Mikleo huffed, sitting on one of the beds. His eyes burned holes at the immovable exit.

"Well, the others have to be coming back up soon, right? They'll let us out." Sorey nodded to himself with complete faith in the rest of their team. Maybe it had just gotten stuck on their way out and none of them had noticed it.

Mikleo let loose a loud and frustrated sigh. "Gee, I wonder why I get the feeling that such a thing won't happen," he muttered, tone edged with sarcasm.

"And why do you think that?" Sorey asked, eyebrows knit together in genuine confusion. There wasn't anything that would be gained from trapping the two of them in the inn room, in his opinion. It just seemed like a waste of time.

Mikleo let out a few garbled noises, burying his face in his hands. "...Because."

"...Because what?" He walked over, sitting down beside Mikleo on the bed.

"Just-- Just trust me on this, Sorey. They aren't coming to let us out," the words tumbled off of Mikleo's tongue, and he waved his hand in Sorey's face uselessly.

Sorey blinked. "Ookay. If you say so." He _did_ trust Mikleo, but what he was saying right now didn't make much sense in Sorey's mind. He knew something that Sorey didn't, that much was for sure. But if he didn't want to talk about it, then he couldn't be forced. That would get them nowhere. "Oh!" Sorey said suddenly, standing up and placing his fist in his palm. "I get it. This is a puzzle!"

"What." Mikleo took his face out of his hands to stare at Sorey in disbelief.

"They're testing us to see if we can figure out how to get out of this room! It must be like some sort of game where we have to escape, or something. And if that's true..." Sorey turned from side-to-side, scanning the room with an excited look on his face. "There must be clues to help us! This is going to be so much fun!"

Mikleo wasn't going to put up with this. He stood up and walked over to the door, summoning his staff with a quick movement of his arm.

"Uh, Mikleo? What are you doing?"

"I'm going to break down the door." Mikleo said, voice level and calm.

"Mikleo, please don't. That'd inconvenience the innkeeper."

"Sorey, I'm invisible. _I don't care._ "

"But _I'm_ not!"

"That's your problem." Mikleo let a sly smirk slide onto his face, a cocky glimmer in his eyes like he'd won one of their competitions in days of old. He widened his stance and raised his staff. Soon enough, a light blue glow began to surround him, exuding a mystical aura.

"Waitwaitwaitwait," Sorey started to run towards him, waving his hands in front of himself. "You can't possibly be serious--"

"Come forth, blades of ice!"

Sorey felt a scream rise up in his throat as he rushed forward and stopped his best friend the only way he knew how.

He hugged him.

Both of his arms wrapped themselves snugly around Mikleo's torso, and Sorey pressed himself into his back, eyes squeezed shut.

As expected, Mikleo squeaked and his stance faltered. The casting circle underneath him flickered and vanished. "S-Sorey?! What are you doing?!" His voice came out high-pitched with embarrassment.

Sorey squeezed tighter. " _Please_ don't break down the door. If we take the easy way out now then we won't be able to solve the puzzle!"

Mikleo relaxed as he slumped in his hold. "Seriously Sorey? There _is_ no puzzle!" he groaned, but he withdrew his staff. A small victory.

"Nooo." Sorey nuzzled into the space between Mikleo's shoulder blades, causing the other to tense up in his arms again. "The others wouldn't trap us in like this. There's no point and you know it. Actually, now that I think about it--"

He separated himself from Mikleo, not noticing how the other put a hand to his chest and breathed out a sigh of relief. Sorey took a few steps back and raised his hand up in the air. "Fethmus Mioma!"

A warm glow washed over him as he donned the armatus, pure energy filling his entire being. The sacred blade appeared in a burning blaze in his outstretched hand, and he felt Lailah's spirit return to its place inside his soul. Adrenaline surged through him, but it quickly dissolved when he deactivated the armatization. Lailah appeared before him then, an apologetic look on her face.

And then she turned into a tiny blue ball of light and flew away.

What.

He and Mikleo looked at each other, confused. Nevertheless, Sorey reached up and tried once more.

"Hephsin Yulind!"

The same thing happened again.

"Filk Zadeya!"

And again.

"Huh?" Sorey looked at his hand, slowly opening and closing his fist where each of the armatus' weapons had been. "Is this supposed to be happening?" Was he somehow losing his capability as a Shepherd, if he couldn't even hold a conversation with his seraphim?

"Rose." Mikleo realized, pacing the length of the room. "She's calling them back after you call off the armatus."

"But why-- Oh." His words from before struck Sorey's mind. That the others wouldn't let them out. He crossed his arms, biting his lip in thought. Even the puzzle excuse didn't seem good enough to use anymore. They'd at least tell them if it was a puzzle, right?

"See? I told you, they aren't planning on letting us out of here," Mikleo said gently, leaning against the wall.

"You don't know that," Sorey argued. "If Rose was with them, she probably saw them disappear all of a sudden and called them back because she was worried." Although most times the seraphim returned to rest in Sorey rather than use her as a vessel, mainly because she freaked out about the concept a lot. But details, details.

"Then try calling them again," Mikleo suggested. "Rose isn't dumb, she should be able to deduce that you're calling them and that they're not in any real danger."

Sorey nodded.

"Fethmus Mioma!"

He was enveloped in the awesome power of the armatus again. But this time, instead of calling it off right away, he stayed in the form.

"Lailah?" he said quietly. His hand rested over his chest, her spirit pulsating steadily inside of him. "We're locked in here. Can you go back to Rose and get her to let us out?"

Lailah was silent for a few heartbeats. _Please release me, Sorey._

Sorey frowned. She wasn't supposed to say that. "Will you get Rose?" he asked. "Or if not that, can you tell us what's going on? Is she in danger?"

_Rose is perfectly safe, as are the others._

"Why aren't you going to let us out?" Mikleo spoke up, "There's not really any point in keeping the two of us here. Unless Rose is out murdering someone." Sorey flinched as Lailah's spirit beat erratically for a moment.

_That's... Rose isn't trying to murder anyone. Everything is alright downstairs._

"Then why are we here?" Sorey asked. Lailah wasn't answering any of their questions. Well, any of their important ones, anyway.

_Hm... Well, I guess you're locked INN!_ Her tone became light and cheery again. Sorey and Mikleo couldn't help but groan at her terrible pun. The reaction was practically habit by now.

"Mind telling us how to get out, if you're not going to get any help?" Mikleo asked, rubbing his temples.

_Let's just say that there is a puzzle you must solve._

"I knew it!" Sorey exclaimed victoriously, thrilled at being right. "I _told_ you, Mikleo!"

_Ah... It's probably not the kind of puzzle you're thinking of, Sorey._

"Huh?" they said in unison. Mikleo, however, seemed to catch on soon after.

"You can't mean--"

_You probably have it right, Mikleo._

"No, that's not-- You can't just--" Mikleo sputtered, before continuing in a low tone. "That's it, I'm breaking down the door."

"Mikleo!" Sorey and Lailah's combined voice rang out.

"I'M SURE THEY HAVE SPARE DOORS, OKAY." Mikleo summoned his staff again.

_No no no, please don't!_

"You've left me with no choice, Lailah," Mikleo said.

_Mikleo. If you break that door, then I'll be forced to get Edna involved. And it will be up to her discretion as to how she will deal with you. Make of that what you will._ Lailah's tone was firmer now, and there was no doubt that she'd make good on her threat.

Mikleo froze, casting circle flickering at his feet.

Sorey, still armatized with Lailah, looked on in fear and amazement.

"The answer to this... this, _puzzle_ doesn't involve any confessions, does it?"

_Nope!_

"Confessions?" Sorey echoed.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Mikleo and Lailah said at the exact same time.

"Huh."

He didn't get it.

_Now then, are you two satisfied?_ Lailah asked, patient despite the grilling they had put her through. (Wait. Was that a pun?)

Mikleo sighed, taking back his staff and crossing his arms again. "More or less, I suppose."

_And you, Sorey?_

"Y-Yeah." He nodded, and sensing her next request, de-activated the armatus. She appeared before them with a smile this time, and even did a short little curtsy before she transformed into a ball of light and was sucked away.

Now alone, Sorey looked at Mikleo. "So... This puzzle. Do you know what kind it is? We should get to work on solving it so that we don't have to stay in here for much longer." He knew for a fact that the other didn't like being trapped in here. It wasn't as bad for himself. He had Mikleo here with him, after all.

"Sorey..." Mikleo's voice was strained. "Just sit down," he said, walking over to the bed and plopping himself on top of the sheets.

Sorey followed, sitting down beside him. "Are you okay?" he asked softly. Mikleo was rubbing his temples again, groaning lowly like he had a bad headache. Sorey reached out, his gloved hand brushing aside strands of hair to reveal the band of Mikleo's circlet. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to the skin above the cool metal.

Mikleo made a small noise and looked away, a faint blush on his cheeks. "Your lips are chapped," he muttered. "Have you been using the salve I gave you?"

Sorey pulled back. "Ah, sorry. I haven't." He licked his lips. They were indeed chapped. Oops.

"Seriously? You should, you know. Dry lips can crack and bleed." Mikleo shook his head, exasperated.

Sorey just laughed sheepishly, scratching his cheek. "I'll make sure to use it then, thank you." He wrapped his arms around him again, nuzzling into his shoulder as a gesture of appreciation.

Mikleo sighed, returning the hug for a brief moment before he gave Sorey the two pats on the back to tell him to move away. "You can't do this anymore, Sorey," he said quietly, looking away.

"Can't do what?" Sorey tilted his head to the side, confused. What had he done wrong?

"Hugging me, kissing me on the forehead whenever you feel like it." Mikleo's shoulders hunched as he folded his arms. "You can't do that anymore," he repeated.

Sorey looked down at the bed with a frown on his face. "I'm sorry," he said. "Does it make you uncomfortable? I guess I should have asked, huh..." He didn't think to. Touch was just something that came to him naturally when he interacted with Mikleo. They had been around each other so long that  physical contact was like second nature to Sorey.

"No, it's not that." Mikleo shook his head. "It's just... Sorey, do you know why the others have locked us in here?"

"Because of the puzzle," Sorey said. Whatever that was. It felt like all of the answers to his questions were dancing around him, staying in sight but just out of reach. It was starting to get a bit frustrating.

"Yes, because of the puzzle." Mikleo nodded. "But can you think of anything else? Like, why the two of us specifically?"

"Hmm..." Sorey closed his eyes, brows knit together. "Because we're friends?" But what did that have to do with the puzzle that they were supposed to figure out? Did it have something to do with the two of them?

Mikleo jumped, and Sorey opened his eyes from the sudden shift in weight on the bed. "Y-Yes. Because we're friends." Mikleo regained his composure with a cough. "But I think there's... _another_ word that would probably be more relevant to this situation. Like..." He flailed his hands around in some sort of gesture. "Our... _relationship,_ " he finished, face red.

"Our relationship?" Sorey echoed. "We're friends. Best friends. Isn't that right?" Or were they not friends anymore? If the puzzle was supposed to be them figuring out their relationship, then--

Oh.

It all clicked into place.

 

* * *

 

Mikleo was slumped over at the bar, his face buried into his arms as he sat high up on a stool with an untouched plate of food in front of him. 

Sorey was upstairs, getting changed and washing the grime off from their travels. He'd probably be down in a moment, so he was safeguarding the food Rose had ordered for them, swatting away Zaveid's hand every now and then.

 ("Not even one little taste?"

 "Zaveid, you don't even need to eat. Stop.")

"Mikleo?" A hand settled on his shoulder, gently nudging him. He recognized the voice as Lailah's. 

"Mm?" He sat up, rubbing his eye. Today had tired him out as well, and he couldn't wait for Sorey to get here so they could eat and then go to sleep. He took a look around the lobby and noticed that Zaveid had left, as well as Edna. Rose was nowhere to be seen.

"Is everything alright?" Lailah asked. 

"Huh?" Mikleo blinked, the sleep rubbed out of his eye. "Of course, I'm just a little tired. I'm probably going to go to sleep after dinner."

"No, not that. I mean..." Lailah trailed off, leaving Mikleo to raise a brow. What was she trying to say? "Is everything alright between you and Sorey?"

"Huh?" Mikleo said again. "Of course everything is alright between us. What makes you ask?"

"Hm..." The Prime Lord put a finger to her lips in thought. "How do I put it, things seem a bit stressed between you and him lately?"

"How so?" Mikleo bit his lip, frowning as he did so. He hadn't noticed anything strange. Only that Sorey seemed to be getting more affectionate in his touches to Mikleo. Going from forehead kisses to cheek kisses, hugs to shoulder nuzzles... Wait. "Is this... Is this because of how Sorey's been acting toward me lately? Everything's fine, Lailah."

"Are you sure, Mikleo?" Lailah was still worried. "I've seen you tense up at times whenever Sorey does something like that." Scratch that, she appeared worried, but there was something deeper in her eyes.

"Only because he usually takes me by surprise, that's all," Mikleo said, but then felt heat starting to come to his face as he realized how his words could be construed. "When he hugs me, I mean! When he hugs me."

"Hmm..." Lailah hummed, closing her eyes to concentrate. "What I'm trying to say is, are you satisfied with your current relationship with Sorey, as it stands?"

Mikleo froze up. Where did this question come from? He looked toward the stairs at the end of the room. No sign of Sorey, or Rose, thank god. She’d probably join in with whatever Lailah was trying to get him to talk about.

"I-- I guess?" He looked toward Sorey's plate. No rolls of steam rose up from the food anymore, darn. He wondered if Lailah could warm it up for him somehow. Stupid Sorey, what was taking him so long? He rubbed his arm, "I mean, there's nothing I can do, if he wants to hug me and such. I'm used to it."

Lailah let out a sigh, wringing her hands. "Are those your true feelings, Mikleo? We've all seen the way you and Sorey look at each other sometimes, when you think no one is looking."

Mikleo choked, cheeks flaring up. His true feelings for Sorey? That wasn't even a question, he _loved_ Sorey. Madly, truly, honestly loved the boy. He wanted to protect him, to shield him, to always stay by his side.

But he was a human and Mikleo was a seraph.

Eventually they'd part ways.

And when that happened, then...

Lailah noticed the darkening look on Mikleo's face, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Mikleo," she said.

He was snapped out of his thoughts. "I.. I know what my true feelings are, Lailah. But... I can't act on them. I can't tell him. I just can't," he said, his hands balling into fists on his knees as he looked down.

"What makes you say that?" Lailah inquired quietly.

"Even if I did, it wouldn't end well. I just know it. I mean, who even knows if he feels the same--"

Lailah raised a hand to stop the river of words that bubbled from his mouth.

"Mikleo." She placed her hands over his fists. They were pleasantly warm, and he couldn't help but relax at her touch. It was comforting. "Do you really think that? What you have with him is special. I'm only asking you this because you two only have so much time together. And no one knows where this journey will take us. It's better to let him know than to leave it unsaid, isn't it?"

Mikleo was silent as he let Lailah's words sink in. What she said was true, all too true. He had tried to tell himself the exact same words countless times, but he could never get himself to believe in them, until now. "...But how?" Mikleo whispered, "How could I possibly..?"

Lailah smiled. "Don't worry, Mikleo. I have a plan."

Mikleo looked up, "What do you--"

But then Lailah turned into a ball of light and flew away. In less than a heartbeat, she was gone.

 

* * *

 

And now they were here.

Mikleo refused to meet Sorey's eyes. But judging from his expression, he had already realized what exactly the 'puzzle' was. (Freaking Lailah.) 

"Yes, we're friends. We're best friends." Mikleo answered Sorey's question from earlier. He couldn't help but fidget in place, his heart starting to race in his chest. If he was going to do it, there was no better time than now. The others weren't here, and it was just him and Sorey. Alone. Together. "But, I..." Mikleo swallowed. "I wanted to know what you think of-- of _us._ "

Sorey only looked at him with an expression of confusion. He took his time in responding, seeming to consider his words carefully. "Well, in all honesty, you're my best friend, Mikleo. There's no one else in the world like you. The fact that you're by my side is something that I treasure greatly. I want to stay with you forever, so we can explore all of the ruins in the world and realize our dream. We promised as much, didn't we?"

Mikleo nodded, his heart squeezing painfully in his chest. Sorey had said all of the things that he had ever wanted to hear, but the meaning behind them was still incredibly obscure. Did he want to be friends or... Or something more? Was there a such thing as platonic life partners?

"I... I have to ask you something, Sorey," he said, his tongue felt heavy with the words. There wasn't any other option, he decided. He'd have to tell him. "Promise me you won't... you won't laugh?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

"I've been wondering for a long time now. With everything that's happened, and everything that we've been doing, are we really friends?"

Sorey opened his mouth to respond, a look of disbelief on his face. But Mikleo gestured for him to let him continue.

"Are we friends, Sorey, or are we-- are we something _more_?"

There it was. He had finally said it, and now it couldn't be taken back.

Mikleo and Sorey stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity, Sorey blinking rapidly and Mikleo refusing to let go of his gaze. He had said it, and he was going to get an answer, darn it.

"...More than friends?" Sorey echoed. "I," he looked down, "I don't know," he admitted. "I never really thought about us that way."

Mikleo's heart sank in his chest.

"But," Sorey continued, "I mean, i-if you want... we can try?" It came out as a question, but Sorey looked up, staring into Mikleo's eyes. "We can try being more than friends," he said firmly, face completely red.

Mikleo opened his mouth, and then closed it. He was completely speechless. "You... You'd be okay with that? Being more than friends?"

Sorey nodded.

"E-Even though you've never thought of me that way before?" Mikleo asked, eyes wide. This couldn't be real. This wasn't happening.

"I said that, but now that I think about it, I really do love you, Mikleo."

What. 

WHAT?!

Mikleo dissolved into blushing and stammering, heart thumping wildly in his chest. "I-I..! You can't just..!" He buried his face in his hands, face practically steaming at this point.

Mikleo could hear Sorey laugh nervously, probably scratching his cheek like he always did with that laugh. "Is... Is that a yes? Or a no?"

"It's a yes," he stated. "I love you too, dork." Mikleo's words were muffled by his hands, and he felt them gently being pried off of his face. He looked up to see Sorey smiling at him, holding his hands in his own.

"It's settled then, we're more than friends." Sorey beamed, and Mikleo couldn't help but reflect it his own features, eyes softening.

And when Sorey tugged him forward, leaning down ever-so-slightly to bring them together, he couldn't be happier.

(Neither of them noticed the sound of footsteps in the hallway, or the click of the door. With blood roaring in their ears, all they could focus on was each other, savoring the newly-kindled warmth in their chests.)

After they separated, they talked a little bit more about their feelings, laughing at each other's miserable pining over the other, even if they hadn't quite known what to name it yet. It ended with Sorey holding Mikleo in his arms, their bodies fitting together like it was always meant to be.

"Do you think they'll let us out now?" Mikleo said with a yawn, drowsy from the soothing feeling of Sorey's fingers brushing through his hair.

"Mm," Sorey hummed, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Why don't we try?"

After a few more moments of cuddling, they walked to the door. Mikleo grabbed the knob in his hand, turned it, and...

The door opened.

Mikleo stared at the outside in shock, turning to look at Sorey. He merely seemed confused by _him_ , rather than the door.

"You didn't think it was going to open?" Sorey asked.

"No," Mikleo replied, "I thought we would have to call Lailah again."

"Uh, Mikleo... Did you not realize?"

"Realize what?"

"Lailah was in my head. She came back for a moment when we were kissing."

"What."

**Author's Note:**

> for sormik week day 2: Earth! (growth, stubbornness) 
> 
> i hope you enjoyed! :3c


End file.
